Friday, December 07, 2007

"catastrofe, hambre, muerte"

Now it's out in the open. There is neither fear nor shame in the matter. It is not enough for the national leadership to but be presidential. There is the feeling and aspiration to be royal. It feels so much satisfaction and consolation in being queenly. Majesty goes so well with supremacy and dominion. Excesses and extravagance accompany with royalty as a matter of course. Nobility is always very expensive for the common people to support and spend for. Now the Palace occupant is basking in the company of Spanish royalty; later, with English nobility.

A queenly junket—this is what it is all about. It has a distinct Spanish flavor. That is why it is now ordered that the subjects of the presidential a.k.a. royal leadership must learn Spanish. It does not matter if less and less parents can afford to send their children to school. Neither is it of any consequence that more and more Filipinos can not even speak straight English. It is not acceptable for the highest office holder of the land robbed in queenly attire and rubbing elbows with Spanish royal blood, to rule over non-Spanish speaking indios. Hence: Ole! Caramba! Caracoles!

Meantime, the queenly junket goes on. Never mind if the country is suffering from one catastrophe ("catastrofe") after another. It does not matter if millions of Filipinos suffer hunger ("hambre") and misery such that even a child committed suicide on account of hopelessness. So what if many people go to their death ("muerte") from calamities and sickness for lack of medicine. Meanwhile, millions of Filipinos leave their families behind to find work abroad—exposing their lives, limbs and dignity to danger. Every now and then, there are those among them even sentenced to death.

No wonder there is much resentment and strong dissent towards the present government. What is truly perplexing is why this government appears to be bent in decidedly angering and alienating the people more and more in the course of time. It seems that it experiences a certain sadistic joy when it becomes less credible, more distrusted and wherefore much disapproved as consistently shown by regular nationwide surveys. People can only wonder when it would stop committing one scandalous act after another. Or has it become already at ease with and accustomed to such retrogressive behavior?

More recently there is the case of the Sumilao farmers who literally walked no less than some 1,700 kilometers to emphatically bring their pitiful plight to the attention of the administration. They braved the sun and the rains. They bore the fatigue. They ate little and slept wherever. Their plea is plain and righteous, viz., undo the land conversion of the 144 hectare land in Simulao which were in fact already awarded to them no less than some 10 years ago. They have the proper documents to back their pleading. Then it happened: The mighty and influential managed to have their certificates of land ownership cancelled.

But upon reaching imperial Manila, the holder of the highest office in the land is away on a grand junket. And who is paying for the chartered plane and all expenses that go with it? Never mind.

Oscar Cruz

About The Blogger

Most Reverend Oscar V. Cruz, D.D. is the Archbishop-Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan. He is currently the Judicial Vicar of the National Tribunal of Appeals. He is a prolific writer, having published several dozen books mostly on judicial and moral matters. His most recent book is about the Social Doctrines of the Church. He also has a blog where he posts regularly. He is an avid coin collector and dabbles in woodworking art.